Release courtesy of St. Joseph's College Athletics

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Powered by a career- and- game-high 24 points from senior Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half to earn an 87-78 victory over Yeshiva University in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) contest on Wednesday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (11-8. 3-1 HVIAC) earns their second league in a row and has won three of their last four games, while Yeshiva (5-8, 0-2 HVIAC) has now dropped two in a row as part of their three-game stretch against HVIAC opponents.

Moran continued her strong play for the Lady Bears, scoring in double figures for the sixth time of the last seven games. The senior finished the night an efficient 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the field, adding six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fellow senior Kelly McNamee (Glendale, N.Y./Mary Louis) also reached the 20-point plateau, finishing with 20 points and dished out a career-high-tying eight assists.

Also reaching double digits for St. Joseph's was junior Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) who poured in 19 points, connecting on four triples, while securing a team-high 18 rebounds for her team-leading seventh double-double. Junior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) added 17 points, seven rebounds and tied a school record with six blocks.

The Maccabees had three players score in double figures led by Haley David who had 23 points and eight rebounds. The leading rebounder in the nation, Rebecca Yoshor, capped off the night with a double-double scoring 16 points and corralling a game-high 21 rebounds. Stephanie Greenberg added 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to earn the double-double.

Yeshiva despite trailing the all-time series 26-1 coming into the game and losing the last 16 meetings, came out right away and set an up-tempo pace early with Greenberg making a three less than 15 seconds into the contest. The Lady Bears looked lethargic to start the contest, possibly overlooking Yeshiva, but the Maccabees would show St. Joseph's they were in it for the long haul as they jumped out to an early lead in the first half and never trailed.

After the Lady Bears cut the deficit to one, 21-20, with 8:50 left in the first half, Yeshiva responded with a 21-8 run to up their lead to a game-high 14 points, 42-28, at the 3:18 mark of the first half. Frustration began to set in for the Lady Bears both for the player and coaches, but St. Joseph's was able to get the deficit to single digits, 45-36, at the intermission with a mini 8-3 run to close the half.

The Maccabees would come out of the locker rooms and build their lead back to 14, 57-43, with 15:37 left to play and the outlook for the Lady Bears looked bleak. However, St. Joseph's picked up their intensity on defense, forcing several Yeshiva turnovers, and Moran decided she wasn't going to let St. Joseph's lose on this night, scoring 18 points during a 27-11 run by the Lady Bears that spanned six minutes, giving St. Joseph's their first lead of the night at 70-68 with 9:24 left to play.

Yeshiva responded right away and tied the game up at 70-70, but an 8-0 Lady Bears spurt would give them a 78-70 lead with 3:39 left to play and they held on for the win.

TURNING POINT

St. Joseph's trailed by 14, 57-43, with 15:37 left to play after Rachel Mirsky and Haley David nailed trifectas and it looked like the Lady Bears may lose to the Maccabees for the first time since 2001. However, led by the senior leadership of Moran and McNamee St. Joseph's mounted a second-half charge, going on a 27-11 run over six minutes that gave them their first lead of the game at 70-68 with 9:24 left to play.

Yeshiva answered immediately but at that point the momentum had swung all the way in the Lady Bears favor and the Maccabees could not withstand a late 8-0 run by St. Joseph's, seeing their upset bid come up short.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Other Contributor: Kristen Candelaria (5 pts, 13 reb)
• The action went back-and-forth right from the beginning with the Lady Bears taking a season-high 90 shots, finishing the night at 37.8 percent (34-of-90) from the field, while holding Yeshiva to a 36.6 percent (30-of-82) connect rate.
• Neither team shot the ball well from beyond the arc with St. Joseph's making only 19.0 percent (4-of-21) while holding the Maccabees to 15.4 percent (4-of-26).
• Both teams shot better than their season averages at the line with the Lady Bears connecting on 71.4 percent (15-of-21) of their free throws, while Yeshiva shot 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the line.
• St. Joseph's had difficulty on the boards as the Maccabees held a 68-48 edge on the glass which they converted into a 31-16 advantage in 2nd chance points.
• Turnovers played a big part in the unravelling of Yeshiva as they committed 18 in the second half and 28 in the game which St. Joseph's parlayed into a 32-12 margin in points off turnovers.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• The 14-point deficit was the largest overcome by the Lady Bears since coming back from a 15-point deficit at New Rochelle on February 2, 2013.
• The six blocks by Raccuglia ties a mark that has now been reached three times, including by Retas earlier this season versus CCNY.
• St. Joseph's improves to 27-1 all-time against Yeshiva, having won last 17 meetings.
• The Lady Bears finished with double-digit blocks for the third time out of their last four games. Entering the week, the team was ranked No. 5 nationally in Division III in the category.
• The 15 steals St. Joseph's came up with was a season-high.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS

The Lady Bears return to the hardwood on Saturday, February 1st for a pivotal HVIAC game against Albany Pharmacy at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of a doubleheader with the men. Both squads have met for the Hudson Valley title in the last four seasons, with St. Joseph's winning the last encounter for the 2013 championship.

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Recap courtesy of Yeshiva Athletics

BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The Yeshiva women's basketball team lead for the first three quarters of the game, but fell short in the final 10 minutes as the Maccabees were defeated by St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 87-78 in a key Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) contest on Wednesday evening.
 
Yeshiva led by as many as 14 points in the contest on two occasions, including as late as 15:37 to go in the game when the Maccabees were ahead 57-43. The host Bears took their first lead of the game with 9:35 to play while in the midst of a 21-4 run that turned a 66-57 Yeshiva lead into a 78-70 St. Joseph's lead with 3:39 to play.
 
Yeshiva was led by Haley David with 23 points and eight rebounds. Stephanie Greenberg andRebecca Yoshor both added double-doubles in the contest as Greenberg had 19 points and 10 rebounds,  Yoshor had 16 points and 21 rebounds. Greenberg had six assists as well, while Yoshor added three blocked shots.
 
St. Joseph's-Brooklyn was led by Megan Moran with 24 points and six rebounds, while Kelly McNamee had 20 points and eight assists.
 
Yeshiva held a 68-48 rebounding advantage, while St. Joseph's-Brooklyn committed just 12 turnovers compared to 28 for the Maccabees. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn held a 32-12 advantage on points off turnovers.
 
Yeshiva is back in action on Monday for another HVIAC contest against Berkeley College at 8 p.m. on the campus of the College of New Rochelle.